Chapter 143: The City Under the Sea

“I only speak for myself—forgive your ignorance.”
Chen Xiao saw the towering waves approaching and shook his head slightly. Then he stretched out his right hand, fingers spread, and effortlessly grasped the raging waves, destroying them outright.
Chen Xiao possessed the main deity power of water. Though he hadn’t fully integrated it yet, the power of this deity was the highest among all water-related forces. At present, Chen Xiao was almost completely immune to water-based attacks—unless they came from true deities—such attacks couldn’t even shake him.
The old man’s strength was clearly that of a super-powered individual. Against those from other elements, Chen Xiao wouldn’t stand a chance, but water-based powers posed no problem to him at all.
“Hmph!”
Seeing Chen Xiao easily dissipate his attacks, the old man’s white eyebrows furrowed slightly. He then waved his staff again, summoning three giant water dragons, each ten meters long, to charge at Chen Xiao.
A smile curved Chen Xiao’s lips. He stretched out his right hand once more and snapped it three times in the air, scattering the three water dragons.
“Old fellow, there’s only a second chance—no third.” With a cold smirk, Chen Xiao ordered, “Shouhen, bring him alive.”
“Hmph. I can’t detect your whereabouts—so how can I find others hidden here?”
Hearing that Chen Xiao intended to summon Shouhen, the old man quickly grabbed Haibei by the side and enveloped both of them in a purple glow, activating his supernatural card to leave.
“Hmph!”
Shouhen appeared in an instant. He punched at the purple glow, aiming to shatter the unstable space around them and force them out. But in the next moment, a golden light flashed, strengthening the space.
Then, the two vanished.
“A space stabilization stone… it can stabilize space.” Chen Xiao frowned slightly, resenting himself for summoning Shouhen so early and alerting the enemy.
“Shouhen, what’s going on? That old man’s strength is clearly inferior to yours—why could he detect you?” Chen Xiao turned to ask.
“I am incompetent. Please punish me, young master,” Shouhen replied immediately, kneeling on one knee. “That old man can control the water elemental forces in the area and sense abnormalities through their changes. Right now, I can only exert my ninth-tier strength and cannot hide completely from him.”
Hearing Shouhen’s explanation, Chen Xiao understood instantly. In this world, many strange and extraordinary abilities could compensate for one’s lack of strength.

“Get up,” Chen Xiao said. “Did you see clearly where those two came from just now? They’re not humans. What exactly are they?”
Suo Hen stood up and replied, “My lord, the water-based spiritual energy on their bodies is extremely strong. They must come from the sea. However, I’m not familiar with the races on Earth, so I can’t determine their origins.”
Hearing Suo Hen’s words, Chen Xiao’s expression darkened. A race with such unclear origins opening a spatial gate on the territory of Huaxia Country—whether that was a blessing or a curse was uncertain.
Moreover, Chen Xiao was certain that they had opened the spatial gate at this moment almost certainly with the Celestial Dragon’s Secret Treasure in mind.
“My lord,” suddenly, Suo Hen’s eyes lit up as if he had thought of something.
“Hmm?” Chen Xiao turned to look at him.
“My lord, in the Main God’s Space, the ruler of the Water Dream World, the divine disciple Shadow, is skilled at using changes in water energy in the environment to track others’ movements. If we summon him, we might be able to find out their origins,” Suo Hen said.
Chen Xiao’s heart stirred. His strength had now reached the sixth level, allowing him to summon two more divine disciples.
Upon hearing Suo Hen’s suggestion, Chen Xiao hesitated no longer. His mental power instantly connected to the Water Dream World in the Main God’s Space.
Whoosh!
In an instant, the divine disciple Shadow mentioned by Suo Hen appeared before Chen Xiao.
Shadow, as the name suggested, resembled a mere shadow, constantly flickering in the air, elusive and unstable.
“Divine disciple Shadow, I pay my respects to the Main God!”
Shadow’s voice was hoarse, yet it couldn’t hide his excitement.
“Don’t call me Main God. Just call me my lord,” Chen Xiao said, nodding at Shadow. “There were two people here just now. Can you use the traces they left to figure out their origins?”
Seeing Shadow appear, Suo Hen instinctively returned to the Main God’s Space.
Upon hearing Chen Xiao’s request, Shadow straightened up. His entire body suddenly became hazy, with water energy surging toward him from all sides.
“My lord, as long as they’re still on this planet, I can track them down,” Shadow said in a hoarse voice, filled with unwavering confidence.
“Good,” Chen Xiao’s eyes lit up sharply.
“My lord, please follow me.” At that moment, Shadow moved. His body transformed into a black shadow that slowly moved across the ground, following exactly the path taken by the enchanting woman, Haibei.
Chen Xiao hesitated not at all and followed right after.
In the Main God’s Space, Suo Hen’s expression turned slightly depressed, clearly blaming himself for accidentally scaring away the old man and Haibei earlier.
“Suo Hen, you’ve been with me the longest. I still haven’t given you any rewards. Take these faith powers for now.”
Suddenly, Chen Xiao’s voice rang out. A mass of golden faith power merged directly into Suo Hen’s mind, into that virtual divine entity.
With the entry of the faith power, the virtual entity seemed to be on the verge of transforming into reality. Once the virtual divine entity became tangible, Suo Hen would become a true god.

“Young Master Xie!” Souhen’s voice was filled with excitement as he knelt down toward the sky. The power of faith here was equivalent to the hard work he had put in over a hundred years of cultivation.
……
By now, Chen Xiao and Shadow had already dived into the ocean. Although they were in the vast sea, Shadow was not affected at all and swam swiftly, following the trail left by Haibei. The ocean posed no obstacle to them at all. Gradually, they dived deeper. After Shadow explored the area outside the Tianlong Secret Treasure in the Yellow Sea, Chen Xiao became convinced that the creation of that spatial portal was intended for this very treasure.
“Does this woman stay underwater like this without needing to breathe?” Chen Xiao couldn’t help but wonder after swimming underwater for three days and nights. Her cultivation level was only fourth stage—she couldn’t possibly stay underwater for so long unless she was some kind of marine creature.
“Young Master, that woman came out of that trench,” Shadow said after stopping, not knowing how much time had passed, as he spoke to the seemingly flat seabed.
“A trench?” Chen Xiao frowned and sent his mental energy out, connecting with the surrounding seawater. Finally, he realized that some extremely sophisticated illusion technique had been used to turn a trench into a flat seabed.
“Here…”
Chen Xiao waved his hand, sending Shadow back to the Main God’s Space. Souhen’s earlier exposure had already alerted him. Then, alone, Chen Xiao concealed all traces of his presence, almost blending in with the seawater, and headed toward that trench.
It was only because Shadow’s mental power was extremely strong, beyond that of ordinary people, and because Chen Xiao could sense everything through the nearby seawater that they were able to discover this trench. Even Damanghuis or Yingyi wouldn’t be able to find it.
As soon as he entered the trench, Chen Xiao frowned slightly. He noticed that various ships and planes were stuck on both sides of the trench—ranging from early sailing ships and airplanes to modern vessels and aircraft, numbering in the hundreds.
“Could this be the Bermuda Triangle?” Chen Xiao guessed. Given how long he had been underwater, it was very likely he had arrived here.
Chen Xiao ignored the ships and planes around him and swam straight into the depths of the trench. The environment here was extremely strange. Chen Xiao controlled the seawater within a ten-mile radius, but he didn’t find a single creature, not even a plankton.
His vigilance grew even greater.
Suddenly, it seemed as if Chen Xiao penetrated some kind of barrier, and he shuddered violently. A burst of light appeared before his eyes.
Of course, it was still underwater, but it seemed like he had arrived at the seabed of another world. Beneath the sea lay numerous buildings, seemingly forming a city. These buildings were mostly made of coral and various underwater rocks, with diverse shapes and bright colors.
Chen Xiao even thought he had accidentally stumbled upon a rainbow city.

And in the city, countless people were walking around… no, rather, people with fish tails.
Mermaids from legends!
“Could that old man and that Sea Belle be these creatures?” Chen Xiao didn’t share the same special interest in mermaids as others. Were people with fish tails still considered human? Chen Xiao couldn’t see what was beautiful about them.
Moreover, the mermaids before him all looked similar, some beautiful and some ugly, with dark blue hair, unlike Sea Belle’s golden hair that he had seen before.
Male mermaids mostly had bare upper bodies, wearing one or more shells around their necks. Female mermaids, as in the legends, also had bare upper bodies, but with two small abalone shells embedded in their chests, preserving their charm.
“A City of Mermaids? I’ve read all the documents in the secret library of the Soul of China, and there’s no record of such a place. Living on the same planet, how is it that those with supernatural abilities haven’t detected them?”
Unconsciously, Chen Xiao imagined a scene where supernatural beings from various countries and factions were fighting desperately to seize the Dragon’s Treasures, only for these fish-tailed creatures to suddenly appear, likely causing heavy losses among human supernatural beings.
“Since I’m here, it would be a shame not to reap some benefits.”
Chen Xiao chuckled and silently dived into the city.